Welcome to Oman!
We took a quick trip for Taeler's birthday to the neighboring country, Oman. We visited the Capitol, Muscat, one of the oldest cities in the world, that dates back thousands of years. It is a beautiful city that is nestled on the Sea of Oman, which is part of the Indian ocean.
I love Dubai UAE and all it has to offer, but Muscat,Oman specifically looked and felt like a true Arab city, almost mystical. Unlike Dubai, the country of Oman and city of Muscat has very few skyscrapers, instead the streets are lined with sun bleached white low or two level dwellings with large ornate gates that welcome you. Of course each of the white one and two story dwellings has the attached satellite dish. They rise or hang from the buildings like ornaments. No matter where you are from, no matter your nationality, we humans are all the same - we love our TV shows!
As we ran around the city like tourists, never mind that the temperature was 112 degrees - yes, really 112 degrees, we were in awe of all the history that we were seeing all around us. The nice Omani man at the Gate Museum was so helpful and took the time to explain some interesting history facts and information about Oman, specifically Muscat. He was even nice enough to pose for a picture.
The mosques in Oman are many in number and all differently unique and beautiful, one from the other. Most most of them have gold or brightly color tiles domes, including the grand mosque situated in the middle of the city of Muscat.
The drive to Muscat alone made Oman feel more traditional, a sight to be witnessed first hand. Goats and donkeys were everywhere with a spattering of a few camels, hanging out in the front of the white one story dwellings.The landscape of the country was beautiful, but it was hard to relax and enjoy the ride because people were running or meandering across the highway the entire drive - five hours worth. We also saw consistently, two and three men to one bicycle -that's right, one bicycle - peddling down the middle of the highway as cars sped by them. Besides watching constantly for people crossing the the road and bicycles being were they should not be, cars were entering and exiting the highway at any whim or want - no ramp or official entrance or exit to and from the highway needed. If it was their to time to get off the highway, they exited across the sand, into the desert. Camels, goats and and donkeys were hanging out along side the highway, with no fences to keep them from running on to it. It seemed to be one possible hazard after another or all at the same time, but the camel crossing sign at least gave us warning that camels could be on the highway. I am already a nervous passenger in a car, the craziness going on around us made me a nervous wreck.
The ride was both scary but funny at the same time, we felt like we were participating in a real life video game, the game being played out before us and we were the ones playing the game. Luckily we made it to Muscat and back and did not hit one person, car, bike or animal! So thankful. Does that mean we won the game ?
One thing that stood out to me in Muscat was the amazing old beautiful doors and structures. To stand out and be different, the home's front door or a main business door is their icon, identifier. The doors were tiled, wooden, carved, rounded, gold, bold bright colors, split heavy doors....not one being the same, all different.
We only spent two days in Muscat, and we definitely will have to go back to explore the city more in depth when the weather is cooler. 112 degrees is just to hot! At the beach front, the sand was so hot we had to run across it as fast as we could and it still felt like we were walking across hot, shearing coals. Once you made it to the ocean the scenery around you made you totally forget the pain of the hot sand.
There was so much to see - the old structures, the doors, the fortresses built on hill tops around the city as look outs for days gone by, the old souk, the Heritage Center and all the museums, the Sultan's Palace, old cemeteries ( yes, we love old cemeteries), the sea port and all the amazing old mosques make this city quite extraordinary.
The coolest thing is that the city possibly dates back a mere 5000 years. Quite remarkable to say the least.
We will be back !
We took a quick trip for Taeler's birthday to the neighboring country, Oman. We visited the Capitol, Muscat, one of the oldest cities in the world, that dates back thousands of years. It is a beautiful city that is nestled on the Sea of Oman, which is part of the Indian ocean.
I love Dubai UAE and all it has to offer, but Muscat,Oman specifically looked and felt like a true Arab city, almost mystical. Unlike Dubai, the country of Oman and city of Muscat has very few skyscrapers, instead the streets are lined with sun bleached white low or two level dwellings with large ornate gates that welcome you. Of course each of the white one and two story dwellings has the attached satellite dish. They rise or hang from the buildings like ornaments. No matter where you are from, no matter your nationality, we humans are all the same - we love our TV shows!
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| Omanie home |
The mosques in Oman are many in number and all differently unique and beautiful, one from the other. Most most of them have gold or brightly color tiles domes, including the grand mosque situated in the middle of the city of Muscat.
The drive to Muscat alone made Oman feel more traditional, a sight to be witnessed first hand. Goats and donkeys were everywhere with a spattering of a few camels, hanging out in the front of the white one story dwellings.The landscape of the country was beautiful, but it was hard to relax and enjoy the ride because people were running or meandering across the highway the entire drive - five hours worth. We also saw consistently, two and three men to one bicycle -that's right, one bicycle - peddling down the middle of the highway as cars sped by them. Besides watching constantly for people crossing the the road and bicycles being were they should not be, cars were entering and exiting the highway at any whim or want - no ramp or official entrance or exit to and from the highway needed. If it was their to time to get off the highway, they exited across the sand, into the desert. Camels, goats and and donkeys were hanging out along side the highway, with no fences to keep them from running on to it. It seemed to be one possible hazard after another or all at the same time, but the camel crossing sign at least gave us warning that camels could be on the highway. I am already a nervous passenger in a car, the craziness going on around us made me a nervous wreck.
The ride was both scary but funny at the same time, we felt like we were participating in a real life video game, the game being played out before us and we were the ones playing the game. Luckily we made it to Muscat and back and did not hit one person, car, bike or animal! So thankful. Does that mean we won the game ?
One thing that stood out to me in Muscat was the amazing old beautiful doors and structures. To stand out and be different, the home's front door or a main business door is their icon, identifier. The doors were tiled, wooden, carved, rounded, gold, bold bright colors, split heavy doors....not one being the same, all different.
We only spent two days in Muscat, and we definitely will have to go back to explore the city more in depth when the weather is cooler. 112 degrees is just to hot! At the beach front, the sand was so hot we had to run across it as fast as we could and it still felt like we were walking across hot, shearing coals. Once you made it to the ocean the scenery around you made you totally forget the pain of the hot sand.
There was so much to see - the old structures, the doors, the fortresses built on hill tops around the city as look outs for days gone by, the old souk, the Heritage Center and all the museums, the Sultan's Palace, old cemeteries ( yes, we love old cemeteries), the sea port and all the amazing old mosques make this city quite extraordinary.
The coolest thing is that the city possibly dates back a mere 5000 years. Quite remarkable to say the least.
We will be back !
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